Alert archive / Alabama / Severe Thunderstorm Warnings in 1998

Severe Thunderstorm Warning 263, NWS Birmingham, AL

April 18, 1998Chilton County, Alabama

NWS Birmingham, AL issued this severe thunderstorm warning at Apr 18, 1998, 5:44 PM CDT for Chilton County, Alabama. It was in force for 46 min. 1 report came from inside the area while it was in force.

The area

The counties it named, with what was reported inside it.

The facts

Issued: Apr 18, 1998, 5:44 PM CDT (22:44 UTC)
Expired: Apr 18, 1998, 6:30 PM CDT
In force: 46 min
Issued by: NWS Birmingham, AL
Area: Whole counties

County Chilton County, AL

What was reported inside it

Time	Report	Where	Remark
Apr 18, 6:24 PM CDT	Tornado F0	Maplesville, AL	A small tornado touched down briefly near CR 16 and CR 17 according to ham radio spotters. Very little damage was reported with this tornado.

NCEI Storm Data entries that began inside the alert's area while it was in force. Before 2003 the local storm report archive is thin, so this is the record of what happened rather than what was phoned in.

The nearest sounding before it

Birmingham, AL (KBMX), launched 12:00Z, 10.7 hours before the alert went out and 37 km from the middle of its area. This is the routine balloon launch nearest before it, the air the forecaster had in hand, not a measurement taken for the alert.

Skew-T log-p

Temperature in red, dew point in green, the mixed-layer parcel dashed.

Hodograph

The wind turning with height, colored by layer: ground to 1 km, 1 to 3 km, 3 to 6 km, 6 to 10 km.

Mixed-layer CAPE: 0 J/kg
Mixed-layer CIN: No buoyant parcel
Mixed-layer LCL: 1180 m above ground
0-6 km bulk shear: 76 kt
0-1 km storm-relative helicity: 98 m²/s²
0-3 km storm-relative helicity: 114 m²/s²
Significant tornado parameter: 0.0
Supercell composite: 0.0

Open this sounding in Storm Lab

The text

As transmitted, in the capitals the NWS used until 2016.

515 
WUUS1 KBHM 182243 RRA
SVRBHM
ALC021-182330-

BULLETIN - IMMEDIATE BROADCAST REQUESTED
SEVERE THUNDERSTORM WARNING
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE BIRMINGHAM AL
544 PM CDT SAT APR 18 1998

THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE IN BIRMINGHAM HAS ISSUED A

* SEVERE THUNDERSTORM WARNING FOR...
  CHILTON COUNTY... IN CENTRAL ALABAMA

* UNTIL 630 PM CDT

* AT 542 PM CDT... A SEVERE THUNDERSTORM WAS SHOWN...BY WEATHER RADAR
MOVING INTO SOUTHWEST CHILTON COUNTY.   THE STORM WAS MOVING NORTHEAST
AT AROUND 45 MPH.

GO INSIDE A STURDY BUILDING AND STAY AWAY FROM WINDOWS A TORNADO
WATCH IS IN EFFECT. SEVERE THUNDERSTORMS CAN AND OCCASIONALLY DO
PRODUCE TORNADOES WITH LITTLE OR NO ADVANCE WARNING.

REMEMBER... A TORNADO WATCH MEANS THAT TORNADOES ARE POSSIBLE IN
AND NEAR THE WATCH AREA. LARGE HAIL... DAMAGING WINDS... AND
TORRENTIAL RAINFALL MAY ALSO OCCUR. BE READY TO SEEK A PLACE OF
SAFETY IF A WARNING IS ISSUED FOR YOUR AREA.

What forecasters said that day

The local office's own words before this severe thunderstorm warning went out, as it sent them, from the Iowa Environmental Mesonet's archive of National Weather Service text.

In the hours before

Local storm report, Apr 18, 12:54 PM CDT, 4 hours 50 minutes before

PRELIMINARY LOCAL STORM REPORT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE BIRMINGHAM
1254 PM CDT SAT APR 18 1998

TIME(CDT)  .....CITY LOCATION..... STATE  ...EVENT/REMARKS...
           ....COUNTY LOCATION....

1131 AM    BIRMINGHAM                AL   .75 INCH HAIL
04/18/98   JEFFERSON                      REPORTED BY HAM RADIO,
                                          DIME SIZE HAIL IN THE
                                          BIRMINGHAM JEFFERSON CIVIC
                                          CENTER AREA.

1140 AM    BIRMINGHAM                AL   .75 INCH HAIL
04/18/98   JEFFERSON                      REPORTED BY HAM RADIO, IN
                                          THE UNIVERSITY HOSPITAL
                                          AREA OF DOWNTOWN
                                          BIRMINGHAM, DIME SIZE
                                          HAIL.
1140 AM    ROEBUCK PLAZA             AL   .75 INCH HAIL
04/18/98   JEFFERSON                      REPORTED BY HAM RADIO,
                                          DIME SIZE HAIL PARTIALLY
                                          COVERING THE GROUND IN
                                          ROEBUCK AREA

1142 AM    BIRMINGHAM ARPT           AL   .75 INCH HAIL
04/18/98   JEFFERSON                      DIME SIZE HAIL, REPORTED
                                          NEAR THE BIRMINGHAM
                                          AIRPORT, REPORTED BY HAM
                                          RADIO OPERATORS.

Local storm report, Apr 18, 12:54 PM CDT, 4 hours 50 minutes before

PRELIMINARY LOCAL STORM REPORT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE BIRMINGHAM
1254 PM CDT SAT APR 18 1998

TIME(CDT)  .....CITY LOCATION..... STATE  ...EVENT/REMARKS...
           ....COUNTY LOCATION....

1131 AM    BIRMINGHAM                AL   .75 INCH HAIL
04/18/98   JEFFERSON                      REPORTED BY HAM RADIO,
                                          DIME SIZE HAIL IN THE
                                          BIRMINGHAM JEFFERSON CIVIC
                                          CENTER AREA.

1140 AM    BIRMINGHAM                AL   .75 INCH HAIL
04/18/98   JEFFERSON                      REPORTED BY HAM RADIO, IN
                                          THE UNIVERSITY HOSPITAL
                                          AREA OF DOWNTOWN
                                          BIRMINGHAM, DIME SIZE
                                          HAIL.
1140 AM    ROEBUCK PLAZA             AL   .75 INCH HAIL
04/18/98   JEFFERSON                      REPORTED BY HAM RADIO,
                                          DIME SIZE HAIL PARTIALLY
                                          COVERING THE GROUND IN
                                          ROEBUCK AREA

1142 AM    BIRMINGHAM ARPT           AL   .75 INCH HAIL
04/18/98   JEFFERSON                      DIME SIZE HAIL, REPORTED
                                          NEAR THE BIRMINGHAM
                                          AIRPORT, REPORTED BY HAM
                                          RADIO OPERATORS.

The office that day

Everything else NWS Birmingham, AL issued on the same UTC day.

Issued	Product	Office	Counties	Lasted
Apr 17, 9:21 PM CDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	BMX	Pike	34 min
Apr 17, 9:53 PM CDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	BMX	Barbour	47 min
Apr 17, 11:40 PM CDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	BMX	Lowndes, Montgomery	50 min
Apr 18, 1:38 AM CDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	BMX	Sumter	62 min
Apr 18, 9:05 AM CDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	BMX	Greene, Sumter	45 min
Apr 18, 9:47 AM CDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	BMX	Greene	33 min
Apr 18, 10:38 AM CDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	BMX	Tuscaloosa	32 min
Apr 18, 10:58 AM CDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	BMX	Jefferson	62 min
Apr 18, 12:00 PM CDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	BMX	Tuscaloosa	45 min
Apr 18, 12:10 PM CDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	BMX	Jefferson	45 min
Apr 18, 5:13 PM CDT	Tornado Warning	BMX	Calhoun	32 min
Apr 18, 5:24 PM CDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	BMX	Tuscaloosa	46 min
Apr 18, 5:37 PM CDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	BMX	Dallas	18 min
Apr 18, 5:42 PM CDT	Tornado Warning	BMX	Cherokee	48 min
Apr 18, 6:03 PM CDT	Tornado Warning	BMX	Chilton	47 min
Apr 18, 6:15 PM CDT	Flash Flood Warning	BMX	Jackson	4 hr
Apr 18, 6:16 PM CDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	BMX	Jefferson	49 min
Apr 18, 6:20 PM CDT	Tornado Warning	BMX	Jackson	50 min
Apr 18, 6:20 PM CDT	Tornado Warning	BMX	Dallas	50 min
Apr 18, 6:26 PM CDT	Tornado Warning	BMX	Cherokee	19 min
Apr 18, 6:35 PM CDT	Flash Flood Warning	BMX	Blount, Marshall	4 hr
Apr 18, 6:48 PM CDT	Tornado Warning	BMX	Perry	62 min
Apr 18, 6:52 PM CDT	Tornado Warning	BMX	Shelby	63 min
Apr 18, 6:53 PM CDT	Tornado Warning	BMX	DeKalb	47 min
Apr 18, 6:56 PM CDT	Tornado Warning	BMX	Etowah	49 min

Nearby

Severe Thunderstorm Warnings in Alabama, 1998 Every severe thunderstorm warning in 1998

Sources

The product and its follow-ups from the Iowa Environmental Mesonet's archive of National Weather Service and Storm Prediction Center text; verification from NCEI's Storm Data; the sounding from the Mesonet's radiosonde archive.